Rogers in $1.3B Talks to Buy MLSE

WOW, talk about a HUGE transaction if it happens. What do you guys think? Good for the Raptors and the other teams in Toronto or bad?

In what would be the biggest transaction in Canadian sport history, Rogers is in talks to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal worth more than $1 billion, sources said Tuesday.

The sale would include the Raptors, Toronto FC soccer club and the Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ minor league hockey team.

Buying a majority stake in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan would transform Rogers, which already owns the Toronto Blue Jays, into one of the most powerful sports enterprises in North America.

Raptors Franchise To Be Sold--to Rogers??

This is sum'n that is gonna be picking up steam as the days go by. Is this a good look or a bad look for our team? That's what I wanna discuss or have discussed. This, to me, can be a good move because we COULD have a person that actually cares and wants a WINNING franchise. The Leafs, as a franchise, is doing well. Thoughts?

In what would be the biggest transaction in Canadian sport history, Rogers is in talks to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal worth more than $1 billion, sources said Tuesday.

The sale would include the Raptors, Toronto FC soccer club and the Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ minor league hockey team.

Buying a majority stake in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan would transform Rogers, which already owns the Toronto Blue Jays, into one of the most powerful sports enterprises in North America.

A deal with telecommunications giant Rogers would include all of MLSE’s sports properties, including Leafs and Raptors TV stations, but not the company’s real estate holdings, sources told The Star. MLSE recently completed construction on its newly minted Maple Leaf Square condo development next to the Air Canada Centre.

More people are concerned what it means from a Leafs standpoint, but from a Raps standpoint, i think it'll be better. You might be able to do more things with Rogers' products to gain access to Raptors content. If you're with Bell, Telus, MTS, Aliant, Sasktel, etc, you might be screwed however.

This has no real meaning to us fans. The team would still be ruled by a bunch of stuffy suits who can't relate to the game. The important thing is that Colangelo or whoever is in charge then keeps control. The move from non-basketball minds making basketball decisions to only basketball minds making basketball decisions was important even if it hasn't led to on court success yet.

MangoKid wrote:

More people are concerned what it means from a Leafs standpoint, but from a Raps standpoint, i think it'll be better. You might be able to do more things with Rogers' products to gain access to Raptors content. If you're with Bell, Telus, MTS, Aliant, Sasktel, etc, you might be screwed however.

Rogers isn't going to turn around and exclude large markets by saying, "switch to all Rogers products immediately or you'll never see your Dinosaur again". That's just not good business. I could no doubt see them moving games to Sportsnet but they're not going to want them all because they have other contracts in place.

Probably a case of more of the same. The franchises that win are the ones that spend the what they need to in order to put together a deep, talented team. And it seems like the teams that are willing to spend that kind of money are the ones with owners that aren't large corporations, but individuals or smaller groups who care more about the team than their margins. Then again who knows how the impending new CBA will affect caps, etc, so that may be a moot point.

Ticket prices will be flat rate up to 60 points scored by the Raptors, then a fee per point will be charged above and beyond that. If you become a Raptors fan, you must commit to them for three years. Getting bored of the Raptors or liking another team results in an early termination fee of $400. Oh and don't forget that being a Raptors fan has an extra charge of $6.95 per month for the NBA access fee.
Also, you can like the Raptors a whole lot. You can like the Raptors all the time. If you try to like the Raptors a whole lot all the time, they'll throttle your liking of the Raptors.
And be careful, being a Raptors fan while traveling will kill you with roaming fees.

ticket prices will be flat rate up to 60 points scored by the raptors, then a fee per point will be charged above and beyond that. If you become a raptors fan, you must commit to them for three years. Getting bored of the raptors or liking another team results in an early termination fee of $400. Oh and don't forget that being a raptors fan has an extra charge of $6.95 per month for the nba access fee.
Also, you can like the raptors a whole lot. You can like the raptors all the time. If you try to like the raptors a whole lot all the time, they'll throttle your liking of the raptors.
And be careful, being a raptors fan while traveling will kill you with roaming fees.

Rogers will be a better owner because unlike previous ownership, they have a brand play. Winning teams woven with the Rogers brand, adds a tremendous amount of brand equity for Rogers. The more the teams win, the more valuable the impressions.

For the teachers pension, it was strictly a buy and hold investment.

Ideally though, you've got an individual owner or small group of owners...egos = championships.

SOOOOOO this is what Rogers is doing with all that hard earned SN1 Money... Im not sure i like this at all... these guys havnt done anything with the bluejays.. these Rogers pricks force fed us SN1 soo they could get more money out of us soo they could play monopoly in the toronto sports market... What a shame if this is true...

i made a joke about Balsillie buying the leafs yesterday from the teachers... seems i was on to somthing.. only its uncle Ted instead...

i guess it would be better since rogers is monopolizing everything here in canada, the more profits they have, the more money they will give to the raps to better the team. but BC will probably use the money to overpay another supersub

Rogers will be a better owner because unlike previous ownership, they have a brand play. Winning teams woven with the Rogers brand, adds a tremendous amount of brand equity for Rogers. The more the teams win, the more valuable the impressions.

For the teachers pension, it was strictly a buy and hold investment.

Ideally though, you've got an individual owner or small group of owners...egos = championships.

Have you been paying attention to the Blue Jays for the past 10 years? Your theory isn't backed by history. Most of the best teams in the NBA are owned by a single owner or by a small handful of people.

tbihis wrote:

i guess it would be better since rogers is monopolizing everything here in canada, the more profits they have, the more money they will give to the raps to better the team. but BC will probably use the money to overpay another supersub

That is unless they don't share your view. Corporations tend to always place the bottom line ahead of everything else. You're never going to see a corporation taking Jerry Buss' or Mark Cuban's views on sporting franchises and what they're all about. How do we know that Rogers wouldn't just internally declare that they'll never be willing to spend with the big boys and instead are happy to turn a profit on a mediocre product? History shows that Toronto fans reward owners no matter what they do. Toronto fans show up no matter what.

I'm not contending that Rogers ownership is the ideal case (I was blatantly clear about that in the last line). Although, I do think it's a lift over a teachers pension who had no financial interest in a winning team (only a profitable team). At least for Rogers, there is a case to be made that a winning team feeds into the companies brand equity - which is in the interest of shareholders.

So, an improvement over the teachers pension, but by no means the ideal ownership scenario.

Have you been paying attention to the Blue Jays for the past 10 years? Your theory isn't backed by history. Most of the best teams in the NBA are owned by a single owner or by a small handful of people.

That is unless they don't share your view. Corporations tend to always place the bottom line ahead of everything else. You're never going to see a corporation taking Jerry Buss' or Mark Cuban's views on sporting franchises and what they're all about. How do we know that Rogers wouldn't just internally declare that they'll never be willing to spend with the big boys and instead are happy to turn a profit on a mediocre product? History shows that Toronto fans reward owners no matter what they do. Toronto fans show up no matter what.

i personally think this move is all about profit for Rogers.. if any team benefits from this its the bluejays if rogers actually intends to use the money theyll be racking in..they're as money hungry as anyone could be...Rogers is a very shady company with very shady practices..

I bet that the reason Peddie is stepping down is he wants nothing to do with Rogers..

Exactly. You don't drop $1B in coin on something you plan to take a hit from. This is a gigantic move if it takes place. You have to think it's got all to do with turning a profit. Rogers executives don't get bonuses by inflating business costs, they get bonuses by lowering costs and raising profits.

the funny part is Rogers are always complaining that there loosing sooo much money with the bluejays yet they have managed to stock pile a 1.3billion dollar war chest... i know they have other income but come on! were was this money before.... how come we are forced to watch the Jays loose out on every decent player in the league because of $ but yet they have all this cash to buy MLSE...
if this happens it will be a sad day in toronto sports if u ask me.

the funny part is Rogers are always complaining that there loosing sooo much money with the bluejays yet they have managed to stock pile a 1.3billion dollar war chest... i know they have other income but come on! were was this money before.... how come we are forced to watch the Jays loose out on every decent player in the league because of $ but yet they have all this cash to buy MLSE...
if this happens it will be a sad day in toronto sports if u ask me.

"Lowering costs and raising profits" is largely an oxymoron. You spend money to make money. Buy the content, monopolize the distribution channel, improve the product, raise the subscription price. That's their business plan.

It's a far more advantageous plan for Raptors fans than the last regime: Buy the team, manufacture more seats, raise seat prices, sign a new broadcast deal, and then sell.

My opinion is how much will it take for Jim Balsille or another Canadian billionaire to at least buy the Raptors(the attendance is already declining and if the team continues to be terrible, we might not have an NBA franchise afterall)? Rogers and other corporations is more of thesame, the best option is always a small group of people with entertainment experience or individuals(like Apollo said).